The trouble with tenure

I am blessed in my team in that we have some folks with a lot of tenure. We have several people that have been working in this department for more than 15 years – much of that in one role. And as we’re still working with an ancient legacy system, it makes for fantastic systems knowledge.

But then there is the dark side.

This accumulated history means that it is very difficult to hire new folks into the team. And the lack of new blood (and new ideas) means that we now have a fairly stagnant pond. Not that we’re incapable – but that we have missed out on many of the development philosophies that have become standard in standard development shops.

And we need to make some decisions, as our ERP needs to be replaced. And either I buy it or I build it.

My question is is it possible to re-energise the team. To turn them into a dynamic, interested, high performance group of modern developers? And can we attract enough experienced, energetic developers to help us to re-tool while staying within budget?